I-Team: NOPD chief points finger at criminal justice system over NO murder suspects

A concern over the homicide rate in New Orleans has the police chief pointing the finger at another branch of the judicial system.

Half of the people arrested in 2012 on murder charges have been previously arrested and charged with illegally possessing a firearm, according to NOPD records.

Some officers say the offenders should have been in jail and not on the street, committing more violent crimes.

In Mid-City during January 2012, 42-year-old Joseph Evans was gunned down. The killing shocked the neighbors and community.

Police quickly arrested 26-year-old Tabari Butler and charged him with first-degree murder, but New Orleans Police Department Superintendent Ronal Serpas was unhappy that Butler was walking the streets.

“We're just looking for consequences; there has to be consequences for this type of behavior,” Serpas said.

Serpas said he is upset because records show less than three years before Evans’ killing, Butler was arrested on charges of illegal possession of a firearm.

Court records show Judge Lynda Van Davis sentenced Butler to seven years at hard labor, but suspended the sentence and placed Butler on probation.

Records obtained by the WDSU I-Team show that more than 40 people arrested in New Orleans on murder charges in 2012 had previously been arrested on illegal possession of weapons charges.

Records also show judges, magistrate commissioners and prosecutors all played a role in what Serpas said is “light” punishment for the illegally possessing guns.

In 2008, records show that 21-year-old Keith Battle was arrested on charges of illegally carrying a weapon.

Judge Frank Marullo accepted Battle’s guilty plea and sentenced him to 44 days in jail and credited him with time served.

In 2012, NOPD detectives said Battle gunned down a man in Uptown.

Last year, Chevron Smith was charged with killing a man in Gentilly. Less than one year prior to that, in 2011, he was arrested on charges of illegal possession of a firearm.

Records show Judge Julian Parker gave Smith a 50-day sentence and credited him with time served.

In 2009, 20-year-old Jubbard Price was arrested on charges of illegal possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number.

According to court records, Judge Keva Landrum Johnson, a former acting district attorney in Orleans Parish, sentenced Price to four years at hard labor and then suspended the sentence, instead giving him five years of probation.

The list goes on.

“If you are in possession of a firearm illegally and are involved in felony behavior, your message is clear -- you don't care,” Serpas said.

Serpas says judges need to realize that.

However, it’s not judges who have handed out what police call “questionable sentences.”

Records show that many times, the gun cases are assigned to a magistrate commissioner.

Commissioners are not elected, but are chosen by the judges in Orleans Parish to handle misdemeanor cases. They hold many of the same duties as judges.

Over the last 10 years, numerous magistrate commissioners have handed out six-month suspended sentences for people arrested on first-offense illegal gun-possession charges.

In the last 15 years, former district attorneys Harry Connick and Eddie Jordan did not prosecute men arrested on firearms charges. Some of the people who were let go and given probation were arrested in 2012 on murder charges.

“As we become better at what we do, light and attention will go to other parts of the criminal justice system and that needs review,” Serpas said.

WDSU attempted to speak with several judges at their homes and courthouse.

Many of the judges WDSU reached out to referred reporters to Chief Judge Camille Buras.

Her staff pointed out that in some cases, state sentencing guidelines mandate the action judges can take.

“I think every office who investigates these crimes hopes the system corrects itself and these people will be held accountable,” Serpas said.

Many people inside the legal community said this type of situation -- of people being arrested for gun possession, falling through the cracks and then being arrested later on murder charges -- is not a problem the judges and district attorney can fix. They said it falls on the Louisiana Legislature.

Thursday afternoon, a representative for Judge Julian Parker said the judges are questioning the NOPD’s number and have launched their own inquiry into the matter.

One judge pointed out that District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro is aware of all sentences handed out on any gun crimes and could object to any of them at any time.

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